Home rental service Airbnb is shutting down its services in China, following a series of COVID-induced lockdowns in the country. According to a BBC report, only one percent of Airbnb’s revenue over the years has come from living in China. The report also said that all listings of homes and experiences in the country will be removed from the company’s website by the summer.
The San Francisco-based company first began its business in China six years ago and has booked stay-at-home orders in the country for nearly 25 million guests. Before the pandemic, Chinese travelers going abroad had tripled in less than a decade. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, this figure reached 155 million visits in 2019. However, since 2020, China has some of the toughest COVID restrictions in the world, making travel in and around the country extremely difficult.
This became more apparent this year as mainland China dealt with its worst Covid-19 outbreak in two years. Earlier in March, for more than three weeks, mainland China’s count of COVID-19 cases with symptoms topped 1,000 per day and touched regions across the country. CNBC reported that the number of asymptomatic cases was much higher.
Airbnb changed the name of the Chinese operation to Aibaying in 2017 to make it easier to pronounce for Mandarin speakers. It was also an attempt to expand the services.
However, it is not just the recent drop in tourism that has forced Airbnb to shut down its services in China. The BBC reports that operating domestic fares for travelers going to China was complicated and expensive even before the pandemic. The report said that the guest’s details were sent to the Chinese government in line with local laws and regulations, and the company faces stiff competition from native Chinese home-rental platforms.
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